The Path Simple

A few thoughts on my dreams and hopes for The House

2009-05-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

As part of this tiny fellowship of faith followers, I have been asked to dream about where I see us in five years. First, what a privilege for me to be able to even dream in such a way as our very existence is not self-sustaining yet. And yes, I have this bias ( must be honest) that I hope within five years we are no longer needing to receive mission support from people outside our direct community of faith. Having said that, the first part of my dream is for us to be many clusters of folks meeting in homes as small houses who come together with the common task of being the hands and feet ( and yes, $dollars$) of Jesus for others in need. That we would see ourselves as giving from our storehouse of riches for the sake of restoring hope and healing others.

The second part of my dream is to take seriously what I heard in this morning's message from Brian, one of our co-pastors. That is, to know that God only gives us what we need today, this moment in time. That we are to be led by the Shepherd who has hardened us, his sheep to depend only on what we can graze on today, knowing full well that we will have to seek new pastures elsewhere tomorrow. There are a number of reasons I say this especially in today's culture and global economic climate. Here in the US, we can no longer rely on the wealth of our Christian heritage. The one which could afford so much of this world's goods. We already knew this but knowing it in our heads is now translated in the day to day reality of leanness we face here and now.

This may have many implications for many younger couples in our fellowship and yes, perhaps even for this slightly over middle aged guy. One of the implications is the ideal of the American dream- being able to afford my own idea of a palace, multiple means of expensive transportation and providing for my own needs and that of my family at present consumptive level. That ideal may be forever beyond the reach of most. As someone in our fellowship once said "everytime I think I am getting ahead, more is being asked of me. The bar of success always keeps rising!"

I think our dreaming needs to see our hope in the little mustard seeds of faith rather than the mansion-promised-over-the-hilltop. And these little mustard seeds need to be far more intentional about pooling our resources for the benefit of all. To see our earthly goods as communal rather than individual. Yes, I know, talk like this sounds rather ethereal, bad politics or at best idealistic. What it does mean to me is for us to be all the more industrious in our thinking and pragmatics. Like those Palestinian sheep in pastures, we may have to graze on more leaner fields as a flock. But leanness is not contrary to richness in my book. I see it as working more intelligently and living simply so that we can FIND REST from the ideals of this world and culture and ENTER THE REST of Jesus' ideals and culture.

I could go on but for now, may this suffice except to offer one last thought about dreaming in the form of some questions. If say, we could afford all this world USE TO offer (yes, our post-consumptive world is crumbling), that is, if our earthly storehouses were abundant and overflowing with wealth, would we still be called to seek another way? Or would we simply be satisfied to go along raising our own bar of success everytime it was raised on us? And if not, then what? What should we seek? Sometimes those questions haunt me as well as comfort me. Either way, I am continually drawn to ask them?

Perhaps part of our dreaming could be to enter into an ongoing dialogue and decision making which keeps these questions in mind. I am sure they are not the only ones we should discuss but hopefully they will help us on our journey of being followers of the Nazarene.

We are blessed! John

Some help in tough economic times

2009-05-02T07:03:00.000-07:00

We all need help during these hard economic times. For my next few blog entries I will try to provide some information we can all use.

For some help, check out my post on my business blog: http://unitedmontessori.blogspot.com

Interview with Jim Fay, co-founder of Love and Logic

2009-04-29T09:29:00.000-07:00

Here is an interview I recently had with Jim Fay, co-founder of Love and Logic Institute. Check it out:
http://unitedmontessori.blogspot.com/2009/04/audio-interview-with-jim-fry-of-love.html

"Looking back...." some reflections on AB Bruce's words

2009-04-18T06:35:00.000-07:00

I wonder how many of us, looking back on our times together, perhaps will suddenly realize how the Lord was there with us. And not simply something we think or understand but something that is more elemental-a presence felt. One which left its mark on us as followers of Jesus. Not over-dramatized or puts us in a euphoric state but a solid, heart felt "we know He is here!" As Bruce put it: "that facts objectively insignificant may be very important to the feelings of those whom they personally concern."

Talking with someone else about our group we would mention the time and place and perhaps a few details of what we discuss. But our richness of it is only there in the laughter, the ponderings, moments still not clearly defined and yes, the joking around.

How often, perhaps daily, I have crushed under my hurried mind, the importance of first encounters?

We are at a seminal point in time in our gathering on Wednesday mornings. I will try not to read more into it than this: that the Spirit's hand and breath is there. May we simply bask in its warmth of our friendship.

Just a few disconnected ramblings....

Guys Gathering April 15th

2009-04-15T10:44:00.000-07:00

A rich discussion for and about our Guys Gathering this morning. I am blessed to be with you all! So every week, I will include the lectionary gospel text and a short reading from AB Bruce’s “Training of the Twelve.”

Lectionary Gospel text found here!

Below is a reading from AB Bruce’s classic text: “The Training of the Twelve”, chapter 1. It is a reflection on John 1:29-51:

“Far from being surprised at the silence of the synoptical evangelists, one is rather tempted to wonder how it came to pass that John, the author of the fourth Gospel, after the lapse of so many years, thought it worth while to relate incidents so minute, especially in such close proximity to the sublime sentences with which his Gospel begins. But we are kept from such incredulous wonder by the reflection, that facts objectively insignificant may be very important to the feelings of those
whom they personally concern. What if John were himself one of the five who on the present occasion became acquainted with Jesus? That would make a wide difference between him and the other evangelists, who could know of the incidents here related, if they knew of them at all, only at second hand. In the case supposed, it would not be surprising that to his latest hour John remembered with emotion the first time he saw the Incarnate Word, and deemed the minutest memorials of that time unspeakably precious. First meetings are sacred as well as last ones, especially
such as are followed by a momentous history, and accompanied, as is apt to be the case, with omens prophetic of the future.1 Such omens were not wanting in connection with the first meeting between Jesus and the five disciples. Did not the Baptist then first give to Jesus the name “Lamb of God,” so exactly descriptive of His earthly mission and destiny? Was not Nathanael’s doubting question, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” an ominous indication of a conflict with unbelief
awaiting the Messiah? And what a happy omen of an opening era of wonders to be wrought by divine grace and power was contained in the promise of Jesus to the pious, though at first doubting, Israelite: “Henceforth ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man”!”
(You can find this book on Amazon for quite an inexpensive price. I thought it was out of print but alas, no- good news.)

May our discussions follow from both the lectionary gospel reading and from “TofTwelve”.

John

Poem: Reflections on Life's Road

2009-02-25T17:11:00.000-08:00

One of my partners in mission, Nate Worden, shared this poem with us:

"Reflections on Life's Road"
by Julie McGuinness.

Some people travel in straight lines:
Sat in metal boxes, eyes ahead,
Always mindful of their target,
Moving in obedience to colored lights and white lines,
Mission accomplished at journey's end.

Some people travel round in circles:
Trudging in drudgery, eyes looking down,
Knowing only too well their daily, unchanging round,
Moving in response to clock and to habit,
Journey never finished yet never begun.

I want to travel in patterns of God's making:
Walking in wonder, gazing all around,
Knowing my destiny, though not my destination,
Moving to the rhythm of the surging of his spirit,
A journey which when life ends, in Christ has just begun.

In Prayer: Engaging Our Imaginations with others...

2009-02-24T19:21:00.000-08:00

How will we engage our closest friends and loved ones in our prayer life? How will we use our imaginations to pray large? How will we bring to true intentions, needs and desires of our heart to prayer and relating those prayers to others so that they will pray for us and with us?

And again, how will this be worked into the fabric of our faith culture and community?

A Pilgrimage on Prayer

2009-02-21T07:03:00.000-08:00

In our journey last week we began to examine our prayer lives which was a very invigorating conversation! Let me try and bullet some of what we covered:
- If God already knows the details of our lives then why pray?
- Prayer is often thoughts or meditations. Does this qualify as prayer?
- I often found my spirituality as an intellectual endeavor yet, at times, I undervalue what I think.
- There is a lot of weird approaches to prayer and worship out there, especially when I consider the influence of eastern and oriental philosophy. But might they have something to offer me as to the "how"? Perhaps it's hard to be creative when I have had prayer defined for me already within my tradition. Hard to break those traditions.
- Circumstances drive my prayer life! But that is not the model of my Jewish heritage. Theirs was a faith community based on centuries of heritage, influence and ritual.

- TO KEEP OUR PRAYERS ALIVE, WE NEED A FAITH COMMUNITY. One that can pray for me and I can pray for them.

There is much to consider and question above. But perhaps a question for us is: do we, as a faith community, need to develop a regular, consistent model of prayer? One in which is firm enough to be a regular habit yet elastic to allow for individual tastes as well as one which continually evolves?

More later. Comments? ( see below)

We Are At A Pivotal Stage!

2008-12-16T08:40:00.000-08:00

I eagerly await your comments

The HouseCRC is at a pivotal point in their life as a fellowship and I need your help understanding how we proceed. We now have several in our circle who either had little if any orthodox Christian teaching in their background. We need to seriously consider how we are going to help them "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3.18) Perhaps all of us could use a refresher from time to time in the essentials of our walk. Personally, I find that I easily forget the ways of the Savior slipping into poor thinking and poor habits.

May we remember that when we speak of this grace and knowledge, we do it with the Sacred texts in mind. That is, in scripture, biblical knowledge and knowing is always interactive relationship between God and His people, two or more individuals. So the challenge for us is to think deeply about what motivates us and compels us to move forward in our walk with God. Yes, much will have to do with who is needing this knowledge but we can begin to set some general guides along the path of any one's search and growth in our fellowship.

I have some definite thoughts but I eagerly await yours. This will be an ongoing dialogue so don't feel as if you have to come up with all points or ideas in one entry.

John

Musings from The Elders at the Gate

2008-11-19T12:00:00.001-08:00

From our Wednesday morning thoughts on the parable of the Sheep and the Goats ( Mt. 25:31-46) here is what I gleaned:
- some will deal with this passage in a manic fashion focusing more on a judgment to hell for those who don't respond.
-Where does judgment fit into redemption?
-Aren't we called to think of the Kingdom as a way of life we enter into? Our emphasis is to be on the Kingdom.
- People come to faith by the work of the Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit meets them somewhere on the continuum between their Poverty in Kingdom understanding and their Riches in Kingdom understanding.
- Again, we must focus, as Christ did, on the rhetoric and words of The Kingdom.
- How do we enter into Kingdom work with those closest to us?
- How can we learn to appreciate more each other's spiritual path?
- Do women want their men to be spiritual warrior/poets? If so, how would that take shape or look?

Much to muse on. Any further thoughts. Please post...

John

A closing thought on Matthew 18:15-20

2008-09-09T19:27:00.001-07:00

So then the last step becomes often the most difficult for us: "... if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector" (Matthew 18:17).

It may appear that Jesus is sahying to give up and treat the person as hopeless and abandon him or her as a waste of one's time. However, Jesus never set limits to human forgiveness. In fact, he was known to have great compassion for the Gentiles and made a tax collector one of his apostles.

William Barclay reminds us in his commentary that when Jesus spoke of Gentiles and tax collectors, he always did so with sympathy and gentleness with an appreciation of their good qualities. "It may be that Jesus was saying something like this: ‘When you have done all this, when you have given the sinner every chance, and when he remains stubborn, you may think he is no better than a tax collector and Gentile. Well, you may be right. But I have not found tax collectors and Gentiles hopeless. My experience of them is that they, too, have a heart that can be touched, and there are many of them like Matthew and Zacchaeus, who have become my best friends. Even if the person is like a tax collector and Gentile you can still win him, as I have done.’ "

Words to stay humble by...

Matthew 18:15-20 (cont.)

2008-09-09T19:19:00.001-07:00

Jesus outlines the way we are called to lovingly help, correct and foster trust when their is disagreement:

I. Express your concern in person. Be honest with your thoughts by making "I" statements.

II. Only after #I. ,and if there are any issues that are unresolved between you and the other, counsel with other wise Christians. Caution: avoid this becoming gossip or slander.

III. When and only if absolutely necessary, make use of the Christian fellowship but in a very limited sense. A witch hunt is not in mind here but rather, reconciliation.

IV. Never give up the other person, EVER! (see next post) Otherwise, your real intentions will be blaringly apparent- You simply wanted your way, not the Lord's way.

On Matthew 18: 15-20

2008-09-09T19:16:00.001-07:00

I thought this was a good starter to this passage, to keep us in mind of the purpose behind these words of Jesus on differences and reconciliation.

Reinhold Niebuhr, in The Irony of American History, writes, "Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime: therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone, therefore we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness."

Worship Sunday 8.17.08

2008-08-18T10:31:00.000-07:00

Twelve of us gathered for worship yesterday and were outside for food, fellowship, singing ( open air is a bit different) and worship!

Download yesterday's worship outline here

We then gathered at Brian and Betsy's, Matt and Laura's home to shovel gravel into their crawl space ( 4 cu. yards-Whew!). Like a barn raising ( Crawl Space Raising? Hmmm?) Pizza and beer and discussion followed. Lord, thank you for the fellowship with these dear sisters and brothers.

What I have gleaned from gardening

2008-08-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

Often for me to make sense of my spiritual direction, I must bring it down to a very elemental level. My experience in Gardening parallels my walk in so many ways. Here are some insights I have gained:

* I learned many of my gardening skills from an old Japanese gardener who never told me how but showed me how. In fact, to him, the fewer words the better. Others who have taught me valuable lessons in faith showed me avenues of grace and truth by demonstrating it by their lifestyle and with few words if any. The old saying is true: "Faith is caught, not taught." It is the Spirit working with and through those who show one how to live. That is a key way of how belief gets fleshed out, defined and something then which makes sense to the follower.

* Most plants grow properly by so many factors: good soil, right sun exposure, better to water deep and less frequently, keep weeds pulled and prune properly (right time/right cut). Okay, this one parallel will take some time to unpack. So I will unload my thoughts in entries to come.

Texts for This coming Sunday

2008-07-31T06:03:00.000-07:00

Genesis 32:22-31 - Psalm 17:1-7, 15 - Matthew 14:13-21 - Romans 9:1-5

Liturgical Prayer for Sunday, July 27, 2008

2008-07-31T05:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Nate Worden for leading Sunday morning Prayer last week using a reading from Soren Kierkegaard as a liturgical outline. May we come into His Presence!

Reading: I Kings 3:5-12

Father in Heaven!
What is humanity without Thee!
What is all we know, vast accumulation though it be, but a chipped fragment if we do not know Thee!
What is all our striving, could it even encompass a world, but a half-finished work if we do not know
Thee!

Reading: Psalm 105:1-5

Thee the One, who is One and who is All!

Reading: Matthew 13:44-46

So may You give to the intellect wisdom to comprehend that one thing;
to the heart sincerity to receive this understanding;
to the will purity that wills only one thing;

May You grant in prosperity perseverance to will one thing;
amid distraction, collectedness to will one thing;
in suffering, patience to will one thing.

Oh, You that gives both the beginning and the completion,
may You early, at the dawn of day, give to the young person the resolution to will one thing.
As the day wanes, may You give to the old person a renewed remembrance of their first resolution,
that the first may be like the last, the last like the first,
in possession of a life that has willed only one thing.

Reading: Psalm 119:129-136

Alas, but this has indeed not come to pass.
Something has come in between.
The separation of sin lies in between.
Each day, and day after day, something is being placed in between:
Delay
Blockage
Interruption
Delusion
Corruption.
So in this time of repentance may You give the courage once again to will one thing.

Silence/Reflection

Oh, You that gives both the beginning and the completion, give victory in the day of need so that
What neither our burning wish nor our determined will may attain to
May be granted unto us in the sorrowing of repentance:
To will one thing.

Reading: Romans 8:26-39

* Prayer adapted from the opening paragraph of Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing by Soren Kierkegaard.

A thought about Change and Innovation within the community of faith

2008-07-23T09:14:00.000-07:00

Here is some food for thought, originally from George Carlin, on fresh eyes for innovation and change. Go to this link:
http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/taylor/2008/06/george_carlin_on_managementthe.html

A Little Reflection on Matthew 7- The Narrow Way

2008-07-22T06:42:00.000-07:00

These words from Bonhoeffer's, Cost of Discipleship, lend insight to Matthew 7's, The Narrow Way:

"The Church of Jesus cannot arbitrarily break off all contact with those who refuse his call. It is called to follow the Lord by promise and commandment. That must suffice. All judgment of others and separation from them must be left to him who chose the church according to his good purpose, and not for any merit of achievement of its own. The separation of Church and world is not effected by the church itself, but by the word of its calling.

A little band of men, the followers of Christ, are separated from the rest of the world. The disciples are few in numer, and will always be few. This saying of Jesus forestalls all exaggerated hopes of success. Never let a disciple of Jesus pin his hopes on large numbers. 'Few there be... ." The rest of the world are many, and will always be many. but they are on the road to perdition. The only comfort the disciples have in face of this prospect is the promise of life and eternal fellowship with Jesus.

The path of discipleship is narrow, and it is fatally easy to miss one's way and stray from the path, even after years of discipleship. And it is hard to find. On either side of the narrow path deep chasms yawn. To be called to a life of extraordinary quality, to live up to it, and yet to be unconscious of it is indeed the narrow way. To confess and testify to the truth as it is in Jesus, and at the same time to love the enemies of that truth, his enemies and ours, and to love them with the infinite love of Jesus Christ, is indeed a narrow way. To believe the promise of Jesus that his followers shall possess the earth, and at the same time to face our enemies unarmed and defenseless, preferring to incur injustice rather than to do wrong ourselves, is indeed a narrow way. To see the weakness and wrong in others, and at the same time refrain from judging them; to deliver the gospel message without casting pearls before swine, is indeed a narrow way. The way is unutterably hard, and at every moment we are in danger of straying from it. If we regard this way as one we follow in obedience to an external command, if we are afraid of ourselves all the time, it is indeed an impossible way. But if we behold Jesus Christ going on before step by step, we shall not go astray. But if we worry about the dangers that beset us, if we gaze at the road instead of at him who goes before, we are already straying from the path. For he is himself the way, the narrow way and the strait gate. He, and he alone, is our journey's end. When we know that, we are able to proceed along the narrow way through the strait gate of the cross, and on to eternal life, and the very narrowness of the road will increase our certainty. The way which the Son of God trod on earth, and the way which we too must tread as citizens of two worlds on the razor edge between this world and the kingdom of heaven, could hardly be a broad way. The narrow way is bound to be right."

(Cost of Discipleship, p. 210-212)

How the House goes about being Missional

2008-07-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a quote Brian Turnbull sent our way that offers some substance to what we do here at "The House".

“The landscape of post-Christendom demands we think about church planting with a new eye for faithfulness, truth and integrity. Among the new missional leaders, church is the name we give to a way of life, not a set of services. We do not plant an organized set of services; we inhabit a neighborhood as the living embodied presense of Christ. Missional leaders now root themselves in a piece of geography for the long term. We survey the land for the poor and the desperate, not just physically but emotionally and spiritually as well. We seek to plant seeds of ministry, kernels of forgiveness, new plantings of the gospel among “the poor (of all kinds)” and then by the Spirit water them, nurture them into the life of God in Christ. We gather on Sunday, but not for evangelistic reasons. We gather to be formed into a missonal people sent out into the neighborhood to minister grace, peace, love and the gospel of forgiveness and salvation. The biggest part of church then is what goes on outside gathering. If the old ways of planting a church were like setting up a grocery store, now it is more like seeding a garden, cultivating it, watching God grow it amidst the challenges of the rocks, weeds and thorns.”

David Fitch

Prayer from St. Therese of Lisieux

2008-07-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

For a portion of our confession time this morning we prayed from the writings of a not so well known St. Therese (1873 – 1897) of Lisieux, France.
Many called her the "Little Flower", and found in her short life more inspiration for their own lives than in volumes by theologians. Without realizing it, by the time she was eleven years old she had developed the habit of mental prayer. She would find a place between her bed and the wall and in that solitude think about God, life, eternity. Yet Therese died when she was 24, after having lived as cloistered Carmelite for less than ten years. She never went on missions, never founded a religious order, never performed great works. The only book of hers, published after her death, was a brief edited version of her journal called "Story of a Soul." (Collections of her letters and restored versions of her journals have been published recently.)

ALL IS GRACE (Rom 4:16)

“Even if I had performed all the deeds of St Paul, I would consider myself an unprofitable servant. I would notice that my hands are empty. But that is precisely the cause of my joy: since I have nothing, I shall expect everything from the good God.”

"We must do everything we are obliged to do: give without reckoning, practice virtue whenever opportunity offers, constantly overcome ourselves, prove our love by all the little acts of tenderness and considerations we can muster.

In a word, we must produce all the good works that lie within our strength - out of love for God. But it is in truth indispensible to place our whole trust in Him who alone sanctifies our works and who can sanctify us without works, for He can raise up children to Abraham out of stones.

Yes, it is needful, when we have done everything we believe we have to do, to confess that we are unprofitable servants, at the same time hoping that God, out of grace, will give us everything that we need. This is the way of spiritual childhood."

"Lord, I do not want to gather merit for heaven...in the evening of this life I will appear before You with empty hands. For I do not ask you, O Lord, in any way to count my good works. Rather, I will clothe myself with Your justice and receive from Your Love the eternal possession of Yourself."

Throughout this week, I hope to come back to pray this- it hits home.

Our prayers for Sunday 7-20-08

Conclusion of St. Patrick's "Breastplate Prayer"

2008-07-20T19:21:00.000-07:00

More than once, I have been nourished by St. Patrick's life and testimony. His Breastplate prayer concludes with the following:

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

May it ring true in us.

Here is our Prayers for Sunday morning 7.13.08

Redirecting from The Simple Path

2008-06-23T00:49:00.000-07:00

I have decided to redirect this blog from http://thesimplepath.org to http://thepathsimple.blogspot.com. The reasons are many but mainly I was having difficulty with phisher's who were using my site for fraudulent purposes.

For more about phishing, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing

More to come....